Bummer

Listening to the story of Canadian duo cleopatrick is a bit like hearing the plot of the best, most righteously validating coming-of-age film never made. Two friends meet aged four in Hicksville, Nowheretown (real name: Cobourg, Ontario, population 19,000), grow up completely inseparable, form a band and, against numerous obstacles, blossom into a genuine, global underground sensation. There are heroes and villains, highs and lows and, crucially, some of the most poetic plot twists that could seem almost too perfect, were they not completely true. Take the story of 2017 breakthrough track hometown for example. Its one of the craziest, most ironic things thats ever happened, begins vocalist and guitarist Luke Gruntz. I was going to college because I was too scared to put all my chips in the band pile, and thats what hometown is about: its a song about feeling like were doing all this stuff and were working so hard and were just never going to be heard. Its literally a song about people probably never hearing our songs. And then by some act of the universe, that song ended up unlocking all the doors for us. Today, cleopatrick has logged 77 million streams and counting - all from an increasingly dedicated fanbase whove found the duo, completed by drummer Ian Fraser, their own way: no major label, no big budget, just two best pals knuckling down, cementing a unique sonic alchemy and filling a space of honest, empathetic yet undeniably heavy-hitting rock music that theyd been searching for themselves for years. Between multiple sold out tours in Canada, the US and the UK/EU and appearances at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Reading/Leeds, the pair have been crafting BUMMER: a debut album that sees cleopatrick harness all the magic theyve been brewing over their two-decade friendship and funnel it into a record that aims to reinvigorate the rock landscape from the ground up. Taking the ethos of their New Rock Mafia collective - a group of friends and fellow bands, united in making a more inclusive, equality-driven space in rock music - and imbuing it with the sonic ambition and ferocity of a record designed to be played hard and loud, its an album about two friends, whove been with each other since the formative first steps that adorn BUMMERs heartwarming cover image and made something thats a testament to the power of sticking to your guns.